A nation is not conquered
Until the hearts of its women are on the ground.
Then it is finished,
No matter how brave its warriors
Or how strong their weapons."

—Cheyenne proverb



Change Unfolding

When our daughter was born four years ago, I found myself in the same boat as many other working women. Out of the hospital and on maternity leave with nary a clue of what might lie ahead, I wondered what direction my life would take. As my new life began to take shape, I had more questions than answers waiting for me. Times of great change tend to unfold that way.

Full-time work? Stay-at-home motherhood? Daycare? Nanny? I didn't know what to think or where to look. What could we afford? Did we really have any options? Overwhelmed with round-the-clock feedings, sleepless nights, and emergency surgery eight weeks post-partum thanks to some stubborn-but-benign fibroid tumors, work was the last thing on my mind.

But those early days of motherhood passed quickly, and eight weeks later, it was time to return to work. Still having made no firm childcare plans, my husband and I began a kind of improvisational child-rearing tradeoff, each of us ramping back into work slowly while taking time at home, getting used to all that went into taking care of the precious life that had taken over our home and our hearts.

Our "no plan" plan worked well for the next three months, a kind of free-flowing mix of parenthood and work by both mom and dad. Since our work schedules were essential opposites, my husband and I took turns, bleary eyed, raising baby, one day at a time.

End of the "No Plan" Plan

My career was to take a dramatic turn when our daughter was five months old. The IT consulting company I worked for cut most of its staff on its way out of business in March of 1998--me included. At that moment, I knew it was officially time for us to make a plan, and quickly. After much soul-searching and long talks with my husband, usually after the 4 a.m. feeding, we decided to put a stake in the ground: I was going to work somewhere that allowed me to work from home. Yes, it would probably mean jumping off the VP track, getting out of management, maybe even a salary cut. But it would also let me do the two things I loved most-raise my daughter and write. Finally, we had a plan.

In the hunt for a job that would give me the flexibility I was looking for, I learned a secret. For women seeking work-life balance, it's a good idea to find an industry that is women-friendly. Public Relations is one such field. Dominated by women in 20s and 30s, the PR industry has been a leader in offering work-life flexibility for women--a necessity to woo and keep top talent.

I also learned that flexible work arrangements are becoming increasingly more common across a variety of industries, as more workers try to strike their own unique balance between home and work. This trend has increased over the last few years. A study conducted by the management consulting firm Hewitt Associates shows that 73 percent of employers in the year 2000 offered alternative work arrangements to employees, a statistic that bodes well for women, who often seek such arrangements to care for their young children.

Beginning the search for my own flexible work arrangement, I was fortunate to find a position in a small high-tech PR firm, where I negotiated telecommuting as part of the job offer. Steadfast in my goal, I asked that a stipulation for telecommuting be put in the company's offer letter to me, and my soon-to-be boss agreed. With a six-month old baby at home, this new career direction and the flexibility it offered was a perfect fit both personally and professionally.

I started off slowly--telecommuting two days a week, and worked hard to establish a successful track record and foundation of trust with my new employer. On days when I had to travel to the office, my husband watched the baby, with help from my sister who lives down the road. On my work-from-home days, with baby in the swing, and laptop on my knee (and sometimes vice versa!), I built myself into a valued employee.

Not to say things were perfect. There were the bad days, those days when I had to make client phone calls in the only quiet place I could find--locked inside the bathroom linen closet under a heap of bath towels--while Grandma stopped by to entertain a teething and very noisy seven-month old. Other days went unusually well, giving me time to be both mom and writer, and reminding me why I decided to give this unconventional lifestyle a try. Within three months, I was working three days a week from home, and enjoying it.

The year I started my new job, our firm was acquired by Ketchum, a global PR agency with a stellar reputation in employee relations and consistently named among the Best Places to Work in Public Relations by industry analysts. Once I became part of Ketchum, I was fortunate to be able to expand the number of days I worked from home from three to four.

The Internet: Erasing Boundaries Between Home and Work

Today, I am virtually a full-time teleworker. While it's not for everyone, this lifestyle does offer women a way to merge work with home, and home with work, in an interesting--and often bizarre--way. With the advent of the Internet, physical distance and asphalt highways no longer separate work life and home life. Instead, within the networked landscape of the Internet, individuals, businesses, and customers are seamlessly connected. Technologies like Instant Messaging--which allows my clients to pop up urgent questions, and the occasional good joke, on my screen in real-time--erase distance. Here is there, and there is here, all at once. I can do research for the articles I write at night, when the house is quiet, from my couch, at the global library that is the net. For many, this infringement of corporate life into the home is unsettling. To my family, and to me, it has been a blessing.

Plain and simply, the Internet has enabled my husband and I to raise our daughter at home. Having her with us during these early years has been nothing short of amazing. These are years we will cherish--watching her grow, change, and shine. At the same time, teleworking has also kept us afloat financially and kept me engaged in a craft that I love.

In a daily hyperlinked state of being, I jump between reading "I Spy," writing articles on e-business hubs, playing with our new "Bob the Builder" walkie-talkies, browsing the latest marketing theories on the Web, and teaching my daughter her numbers and letters. She even has her own blog now, which we try to update every day or two together. It's clearly not the life of choice for everyone--but it can be especially appealing to new moms as they weave their way through the challenges and options motherhood sets at their doorstep.

Getting your organization to approve teleworking can be a tricky proposition, though. In general, companies with a digital strategy and inherent understanding of the value of the Internet are more receptive to giving telecommuting a try. At my company, for example, we have a state-of-the-art Intranet, where I can access company information and colleagues 24/7, and even collaborate online with clients in "e-rooms." Today, my virtual office is almost indistinguishable from my "cube" office. More companies are likely to move this way as both clients and employees nudge them along.

Getting to "Yes"

That doesn't mean that getting your boss to say "yes" to teleworking is a cinch. Often, organizations need to be educated on just what teleworking is, and how it can actually benefit the business. Here are some things you can do to strengthen your case and make teleworking work:

Prove Yourself: Put yourself in your boss's shoes. Would you let you telecommute? Can you be trusted to get your work-and then some-done, error free and on deadline? If you want flexibility, you must first show you can be trusted with loose reins. Do your best while you are in the office to demonstrate the passion you have for your job, and the excellence with which you can execute assignments. Setting a good track record in the office is the best way to earn a try at teleworking.

Test Your Distraction Quotient: Start working on the weekends every now and then. Dial in to work, or connect via your phone line, DSL line, or cable modem, and do some work from home. If the draw of Court TV is too much for you, you have some homework to do before you're ready for prime-time teleworking.

Get Prepared to "Be Alone," But not Lonely: If you wonder what co-workers think or say about you when you're not around, teleworking isn't for you. If you are junior level worker requiring a great deal of guidance, you could run into trouble. If you don't like hearing yourself talk, forget it. Teleworking is in fact a solitary existence. With the social network of the workforce ripped away, some good things happen though. Politics fade into the background. Workplace distractions disappear. And most teleworkers don't miss them a bit.

Invest in Teleworking On Your Own: In a tight economy, the last thing you should do is go into your boss's office with a laundry list of equipment and bills for your home office. While most companies will reimburse teleworkers for some of the expenses, and may even provide with you a laptop or PC to use at home, be prepared to invest in teleworking yourself. Write down the things you are providing as part of your home office so that you can present your case in a way that shows you have a vested interest in its success. Whether you pay for high-speed Internet access, like DSL or cable modem, or buy your own FAX machine, or get a second phone line-do something that shows you're serious.

Ramp Up Slowly: Try teleworking one or two days a week at first. See how you like it and how it works for the business. If it fits your lifestyle and makes you a better worker, you will have the ammunition you need to expand the number of days you work from home.

List the Business Benefits: Two years ago, flexibility of workstyles--like stock options--were dangled in front of employees who were hard to get and harder to keep. Today things are different. There is more responsibility on the part of workers to show how teleworking will benefit the business. And it does--in terms of productivity and contribution, the teleworkers I know are superb assets to the business.

Provide a Measuring Stick: Whether it's the number of hours you bill in a month, the quantity and quality of work you deliver, email kudos from your clients on how much they love you, find a yard stick to measure your work against, and provide regular feedback on your progress to your boss. This is the best way to make your shot at teleworking stick.

Show Your Face (at least once in a while): Don't think that you'll never step foot in the office again. What would your colleagues do if they never saw your smiling face again? Be sure to keep a home base in the office so that you can come in for meetings, ask team members what work may be coming your way, and catch up on that social banter you will miss after a while.

Through advances in Internet technology, including high-speed, round-the-clock access to information, corporation, and tools, teleworking now offers great benefits for workers and businesses alike. More productive and loyal employees keep businesses strong, while quality-of-life gains are tremendous for employees--especially "telemoms." In a time when families are disintegrating as children and parents spend less and less time together, the Internet and teleworking are unifying the worlds of women, their families, and businesses. And I, for one, am glad.